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Round 16 WAFL PreviewThursday, July 27, 2023 - 10:44 PM - by Chris Pike
THERE might be just two matches in Round 16 of the WAFL on Saturday afternoon but they are shaping as two mouth watering match ups with East Fremantle trying win a derby for the first time in 16 attempts and East Perth hunting a ninth consecutive victory.
It's the second Fremantle Derby and second Leederville Oval co-tenants battle that make up the two fixtures on Saturday in Round 16 of the WAFL with Claremont, Peel Thunder, Perth, Swan Districts, West Coast and West Perth sitting out with the bye leading into the last month of the season.
First up on Saturday afternoon is South Fremantle playing host to East Fremantle in the second derby of the 2023 season at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.
Remarkably, the Bulldogs have won the previous 15 derbies dating back to 2016 in what is the longest winning streak in the rich history between the two clubs dating back to 1900.
It's also an important game for East Fremantle to further cement themselves inside the top five but a win will take the Sharks ahead of Claremont into second position with four games remaining.
The other game on Saturday then pits the Leederville Oval co-tenants against one another with a first against fourth contest with East Perth taking on Subiaco.
The Royals come into the clash having now won eight matches in-a-row for their best winning streak since 2014 to be a game clear on top of the ladder with the Lions to finish as high as second with a victory themselves with Claremont having the bye and if East Fremantle loses the derby.
WAFL TEAM OF THE WEEK – ROUND 15
The day begins with the Colts matches on Saturday at both venues with South Fremantle playing East Fremantle from 9.10am before East Perth and Subiaco begin hostilities at 9.40am.
The Reserves is then next up with the derby beginning at 11.40am before the Royals and Lions' contest begins at 12.10pm.
SOUTH FREMANTLE v EAST FREMANTLE – SATURDAY 2.10PM
The longest winning streak in derby history goes on the line on Saturday with South Fremantle playing host to East Fremantle at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.
The Bulldogs beat the Sharks for a 15th consecutive time back on WA Day earlier this season at the WACA Ground to extend what is already the longest winning streak in the rich and storied history between the Fremantle rivals.
Even though it's South Fremantle all but out of finals contention and East Fremantle sitting pretty in third position on a four-game winning streak, it's quite the remarkable hoodoo the Sharks are attempting to overcome against the Bulldogs.
Despite the 15-game losing streak, with both teams coming off a bye last weekend it's East Fremantle coming into the game with form on its side having won four straight matches.
That has the Sharks sitting in third position on the WAFL ladder with a 9-4 record and they will go to second with a victory with Claremont having the bye.
South Fremantle, meanwhile, did have a win last up against Perth prior to the bye and won't want to give up a first derby loss since 2016 now on Saturday in the match up at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.
South Fremantle comes into Saturday's derby having won the last 15 match ups between the two storied rivals in what is the biggest winning streak in the history of the clubs that dates back to their first meeting in 1900.
Saturday's game is the 389th time the two teams have played and never before has one of the sides won 15 straight derbies, but the Bulldogs will now be looking to stretch that to 16 to continue the run going dating back to 2016.
The last time East Fremantle beat South Fremantle was WA Day back in 2016 when the Sharks prevailed by 39 points at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.
From that game, the only East Fremantle participant who played and could also play in Saturday's match up is captain Matthew Jupp. The only other current player is Ryan Lester-Smith but he's set to be playing another game in the reserves on his comeback.
From the South Fremantle team, only captain Dylan Main, 169-game veteran Zac Strom and premiership midfielder Jacob Dragovich played in that last derby loss for the Bulldogs who will be out there trying to stop it happening again on Saturday.
It's been a remarkable run over the last 15 derbies for South Fremantle with an average winning margin of 59 points. It has included a high of a 145-point margin back in 2017 along with four other wins by 90 or more points, but there's also been a two-point win back on WA Day last year.
The WA Day contest of this year took place at the WACA Ground and in wet, cold and muddy conditions, South Fremantle proved too strong on a dramatic day that included a 30-minute delay in the third quarter for lightning.
South Fremantle ended up kicking the last three goals of the low-scoring contest to prevail 5.7 (37) to 2.11 (23).
In the victory, Kaiden Harbour kicked three of the five goals for South Fremantle with Matthew Parker racking up 27 touches, Jake Florenca 22, Jordan Gallucci 21 and Dylan Main 19.
East Fremantle's goals came from Dillon O'Reilly and Brayden Lawler while Hugh Dixon had 28 possessions and 35 hit outs in the ruck. Fraser Turner also had 25 touches, Milan Murdock 24 and Cam Eardley 21.
South Fremantle had the bye last week coming off a win against Perth with the Bulldogs forced into at least one change for Saturday's derby at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.
Premiership defender Chad Pearson is having another fine season in 2023 but he injured a knee against Perth so he's the only player confirmed to go out of the team for Saturday's derby at this stage.
Helping ease the blow of losing Pearson will be the return of fellow defender Jordan Boullineau who has missed the past three matches with a hamstring injury.
The other players added to the South Fremantle squad are Toby Dodds, Ed Graham, Jermaine Pickett and George Wessels. Should Graham and/or Pickett make the final 22, they will make their debuts for the Bulldogs and there couldn’t be a better occasion than a derby.
East Fremantle is also coming off the bye last week following an impressive win against Peel in Geraldton that sees the Sharks entering the derby on the four-game winning streak.
Former AFL-listed pair Luke English and Josh Schoenfeld return to the East Fremantle squad as well for Saturday's derby along with big man Eddie Simpson, gun goalkicker Cody Leggett and potential debutants Koen Sanchez and Kale Paton.
FOLLOW AND WATCH THE GAME LIVE HERE THANKS TO AFL.COM.AU
EAST PERTH v SUBIACO – SATURDAY 2.40PM
Saturday's match up of the Leederville Oval co-tenants could very well be the most significant between East Perth and Subiaco since the two teams met in the 2014 grand final.
The two clubs have been on decidedly different trajectories since Subiaco beat East Perth in that 2014 grand final. The Lions have won four more premierships and played in six grand finals since.
It's been a different story for the Royals who have only played in five finals matches since, only won two of those and haven’t made the finals since 2018 nor won one since the first semi-final against Peel Thunder in 2015.
However, coming into Saturday's game and both teams are in winning form and looking to strengthen their top four positions with just four games of the season remaining for each of them.
East Perth comes into the game on its best winning streak since that 2014 season having won eight straight matches to now sit a game clear on top of the WAFL ladder with an 11-3 record.
Subiaco, meanwhile, hit back from a three-game losing streak to beat Perth by 79 points last Saturday to steady with a 9-5 record in fourth position. A win for the Lions on Saturday could see them move to as high as second position should East Fremantle lose to South Fremantle.
The first meeting between the Leederville Oval co-tenants this season took place back in Round 2 and it was East Perth beating Subiaco by 23 points.
In that win, the Royals raced out of the blocks with six goals to one in the opening quarter and then went into half-time with 12 goals to four to set up the eventual victory.
Nick Bonomelli kicked four goals in the win for East Perth, Hamish Brayshaw three, Jayden Peak two, Mitch Crowden two and Angus Schumacher two.
Schumacher also had 33 touches, Crowden 29, Stan Wright 27, Kye Willcocks 23, Brayshaw 23 and Tom North 22.
Ben Sokol finished up kicking three goals for Subiaco, Robert Hansen two, Ben Golding two, Stefan Giro two and Taj Schofield two.
Giro also racked up 30 disposals for the Lions, Liam Hickmott 22 and Zac Clarke 21 to go with 42 hit outs in the ruck.
Prior to that win earlier this season for East Perth, Subiaco had dominated recent proceedings between the two clubs including winning the previous four matches dating back to 2021.
East Perth did manage a win in Round 6, 2020 but before that and the Lions had won 12 in-a-row against the Royals by an average winning margin of 52.2 points between Round 16, 2015 and Round 20, 2019.
So coming into Saturday's match up and while the Royals did win in Round 2, the Lions have won 16 of the previous 18 battles between the Leederville Oval co-tenants.
East Perth is putting its eight-game winning streak on the line on Saturday against Subiaco with the Royals having no reason to change a team that is sitting a game clear on top of the ladder.
However, defensive duo Jacob Msando and Stan Wright have been added to the squad for the Royals for the clash with the Lions along with Taylor North and Zach Raykos.
At this stage, there are no outs from the East Perth team that beat Peel Thunder in Mandurah last week.
Subiaco is coming off a 79-point win against Perth last Saturday but from that team, Michael Braut, Keeshawn Cook, Lachlan Henderson, Corey Hitchcock, Lachlan Vanirsen and Max Walters have all been added to the squad to take on East Perth this Saturday.
The players confirmed out for the Lions so far from the team that beat the Demons are Rylie Morgan and Koltyn Tholstrup.